Another DOT laptop stolen

The Transportation Department says that another laptop has been stolen from an agency employee in Florida, but it is uncertain whether the computer contains sensitive information.

The announcement comes almost a week after DOT revealed that another laptop containing personally identifiable information on more than 130,000 people in the Miami region was stolen from an employee in DOT's Office of Inspector General.

The theft in this case occurred in April during a conference in Orlando, Fla., an OIG spokesman confirmed. The laptop was taken from a secure room at the conference facility.

An OIG spokesman said the agency is conducting a forensic investigation of a backup of the laptop's hard drive to determine whether it contained sensitive or personal information.

DOT officials knew about the April theft prior to last week's incident, the spokesman said, but did not investigate immediately because agency officials believed the data was encrypted.

However, the police report for the theft indicated that the laptop did contain some unencrypted files, the spokesman said.